Clarity
CO Rewrite: Originally posted September 18, 2007.
"Everything that can be thought at all can be thought clearly. Everything that can be said can be said clearly."
Ludwig Wittgenstein
"Moral indignation is the standard strategy for endowing the idiot with dignity."
Marshall McLuhan
"When people blur, it is usually either because they are not capable of focusing or because a sharp picture of the issues would make their case collapse. Currently the blurrers are riding high."
Thomas Sowell
"It is necessary, in making one's complaints against the society we intend to replace, to be vague and even disjointed. To be specific, or to be orderly, is once again to run the risk of orderly confutation."
William F. Buckley, Jr.
We seek clarity. In the most moving poem, the greatest prose, in our search for direction and purpose. We seek clarity in our wanderings and thoughts. We crave it in a world of blurred missions, mixed objectives and poor explanations.
Among the seemingly big dichotomies - doves and hawks, liberals and conservatives, elites and masses - the one that matters most is the distinction between those who clarify and those who blur.
The blurs are mumbled or shouted. Shame or indignation dress them up poorly. But we accept the blurs too often. The bad message repeated over and over again, or a glossed-over blur that is ignored or left unaddressed (but noticed).
Clarity shines brightly when it is exposed. It withstands scrutiny and poking and prodding. Clarity holds up well over time. It refreshes, it leads, it inspires. It welcomes review.
Clarity requires work. It must be excavated from the blurry and busy landscape. It must be dug up, brushed off, and held up. It is uncovered through reading and thinking and writing and editing and arguing. Through careful research and reflection and explanation. Clarity is prized.
"Everything that can be thought at all can be thought clearly. Everything that can be said can be said clearly."
Ludwig Wittgenstein
"Moral indignation is the standard strategy for endowing the idiot with dignity."
Marshall McLuhan
"When people blur, it is usually either because they are not capable of focusing or because a sharp picture of the issues would make their case collapse. Currently the blurrers are riding high."
Thomas Sowell
"It is necessary, in making one's complaints against the society we intend to replace, to be vague and even disjointed. To be specific, or to be orderly, is once again to run the risk of orderly confutation."
William F. Buckley, Jr.
We seek clarity. In the most moving poem, the greatest prose, in our search for direction and purpose. We seek clarity in our wanderings and thoughts. We crave it in a world of blurred missions, mixed objectives and poor explanations.
Among the seemingly big dichotomies - doves and hawks, liberals and conservatives, elites and masses - the one that matters most is the distinction between those who clarify and those who blur.
The blurs are mumbled or shouted. Shame or indignation dress them up poorly. But we accept the blurs too often. The bad message repeated over and over again, or a glossed-over blur that is ignored or left unaddressed (but noticed).
Clarity shines brightly when it is exposed. It withstands scrutiny and poking and prodding. Clarity holds up well over time. It refreshes, it leads, it inspires. It welcomes review.
Clarity requires work. It must be excavated from the blurry and busy landscape. It must be dug up, brushed off, and held up. It is uncovered through reading and thinking and writing and editing and arguing. Through careful research and reflection and explanation. Clarity is prized.
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